The planet’s largest-known lithium deposit may have been found hiding beneath an ancient supervolcano along the Nevada–Oregon border in the US. Given the skyrocketing demand for lithium, this deposit could be a treasure trove – although obtaining it could come with a bunch of challenges and dangers.
However, many are concerned about the risk of lithium exploration in the Mcdermitt Caldera. An arm of the Lithium Americas Corporation wants to build an open-pit lithium mine here with a projected area of 17,933 acres. This plan has been heavily contested by some environmentalists and local Indigenous people, who argue the project will turn their beloved land into an industrialized mining district.
“The Caldera holds many first foods, medicines, and hunting grounds for tribal people both past and present. The global search for lithium has become a form of ‘green’ colonialism. The people most connected to the land suffer while those severed from it benefit,” People of Red Mountain, an Indigenous-led organization, said in a statement.
It does feel as though industrialists can simply point at a patch of dirt, shout "Lithium!", and get a write up in any business journal of record justifying the full rape and pillage of the region.
We saw this shit with Bolivia, we're watching anti-China hysteria break out anywhere in East Asia with a Lithium reserve, I can't but hold my breath and wait for someone to think they know about Lithium somewhere in the Urals... If we weren't already igniting conflicts globally faster than we can fight them, I'd be more worried. But as it stands, the lithium fixation feels like another mass marketing stunt that will pass once we're on to the next Wonder Energy Source.
Excited to hear in another five or ten years why we need to bomb Cuba in order to access their abundant supply of wind energy.